To all of the people telling this bloke to complain to management, management won't do jack.

A year ago, seven months pregnant and looking for a quiet and convenient, safe complex, I moved to a relatively (for the area) upscale complex. The neighbors seemed nice, the apartment was lovely---the area was a fantastic little bit of whimsy in the middle of the city--but fuck me, it never occurred to me that an apartment manager would be stupid enough to put a family with a three year old in an upstairs apartment. I was ground floor. First, there was the bird seed. I like to keep a little miniature garden, you dig---it's relaxing, it's enjoyable, it's just a thing I do. The woman above me, whom I'd soon come to know as "The Professor's Wife", liked to throw handfuls of birdseed onto her patio. Of course, the bird seed would fall between the slats, onto my garden, ruining my patio, my plants, my patio furniture, etc. etc. ...There were many times that I'd be sitting outside only to have a rainstorm of birdseed fall onto my head. It was January, I let it go. I figured she was just putting the bird seed on the actual patio as opposed to using a feeder for a reason---I wasn't going to have a tantrum over the bird seed. At least, not until my patio ended up several inches deep in it. ....It was about this time that the noises started.

That kid of hers. That kid. It had to be the poster child for ADHD. All day long, all night long, all you could hear was BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM...crash, bang, etc. It was keeping me up--it was keeping my husband up. I lost contracts (I work remotely from home), my husband had to sit in his car to conduct conference calls. Once again, I thought to myself: it's winter, the kid probably isn't getting outside much---hopefully this will change...after all, soon I'll have my own kid....I honestly tried to be understanding. Finally, I lost it. I lost it when my mother in law came to stay with us, and promptly marched out of the house at three a.m. due to this kid's incessant jumping, running, kicking, screaming. That was it.

I left a note, along with a bird feeder. I asked if there was any possible way that they could ask their child to quiet down in the evenings, and if they wouldn't mind not covering my patio in six inches of bird seed / week. Things quieted down...for about a month.

My son died, two days after birth. I was a wreck. The noises started again, worse than ever--punctuated now by the screaming and fighting of the Professor and his wife. Finally, I went upstairs. The woman opened the door, and I began my little rehearsed speech, the speech that went something like this: "I'm sorry to bother you, things were lovely for a few weeks, but my son died, I'm not sleeping well, and your son's jumping in the evenings isn't--" it was at this point that she cut me off. Her child, a boy, was standing in front of her--why she'd want her kid to hear what she had to say is beyond me. The first / only words this woman ever said to my face were: "Oh, your son died? Boo fucking hoo, life is tough--you live in an apartment complex, people make noise. Get over it." ...And promptly slammed the door in my face. The noise increased. My husband began staying at his mother's townhouse in the city, as he was no longer able to function, only coming home on week ends. Management refused to do anything. I honestly believe they thought I was crazy. Ultimately, despite filing police reports, despite keeping recordings of the behavior, fighting, the noise, and a log, despite contacting the real estate agency that owned the complex, I had to move. My husband and I relocated. I found out that shortly after we broke the lease, a new couple moved in---and had the same exact problems. The offending couple---a professor at our local uni and his wife--were evicted. Too little too late. Point is, management doesn't exist to act as a mediator between tenants. If there's a situation that can't be resolved, they're going to lose a tenant regardless---and they don't generally care which one it is. All I can say, is if you're someone that works from home, a light sleeper, or in general aren't cool with constant and perpetual noise, don't settle for a ground floor apartment. Or just don't settle for an apartment, period. The police will not do anything in the US unless they can hear the noise from...was it fifty feet? Yards? I can't even remember any longer. And unless several tenants are being bothered, representing a multiple loss in clientele, management will just shrug their shoulders.